Volkswagen XL1

This, remarkably, is the production version of the Volkswagen XL1, the most fuel-efficient production car in the world, a car we'll see in Geneva in a little over a week. Barely changed from the concept version shown at the Qatar motor show two years ago, the production XL1 is the first production result of VW's 1-liter project – to design a car that uses less than 1l/100km (282.5mpg imperial) – that started with the lozenge-shaped, tandem-seat 2003 1L and the later L1 of 2009. The XL1 actually beats that by sipping just 0.9 liters with CO2 emissions of 21g/km.

Bentley SUV will create a new niche

The Bentley SUV (EXP 9 F pictured) will create a new market sector. We all saw the Bentley SUV when it arrive two years ago at the Geneva Motor show, and the general consensus was along the lines of ‘What a truck’. But Bentley have taken that reaction on board and are busy redesigning the looks of their SUV (well, the exterior anyway – the interior was lovely) to give it a more appealing look, one probably more biased towards an SUV version of the Continental Series rather than the Mulsanne.

Maybach Coupe for sale: First Maybach Cruiserio Coupe up for grabs

Maybach Cruiserio Coupe - up For Sale We’ve run a couple of stories about a coupe version of the Maybach 57S this year, starting with the rather surprising news that a Maybach Coupe was coming - especially as it wasn’t going to be the spectacular Exelero Coupe – and culminating in the confirmation that German company Xenatec were building 100 Maybach Coupes. What I don’t think we knew at the time was that the whole Maybach Coupe plan was being funded by Saudi-based Auto Kingdom, which probably explains quite a lot. The Maybach has not been an explosive success since it launched – it’s been completely eclipsed by the far superior Rolls Royce Phantom – but its best market has probably been the Middle East, so Auto kingdom are probably pretty scure in the knowledge they can shift one or two of the Maybach Coupes on their home turf.